In the final home game of the season, the Cedar Springs boys basketball team celebrated the traditional Senior Night. Before the game against Unity Christian, head coach Andy Secor honored each of the six Seniors. He introduced each Senior player individually, and as they walked out on to the court for the final time, the coach said a few words about each of them. Here are some highlights:

#1 Tyler Baker. “Tyler is a three sport athlete here at Cedar Springs. He is a team first guy that cares more about winning more than any individual accomplishments. A tough kid, a hard worker who always gets the most out of his ability”.

#4 Alec Hanmer. “A very gifted athlete, and is a player who has shown unbelievable growth throughout his 4 years here. Last year at this time Alec was our 9th or 10th man, playing 2 or 3 minutes a game. This year he has started almost every game, and has led us in scoring. He’s made as big of a turn around as anyone I’ve seen in 13 years here at Cedar Springs.”

#5 Tyler Hinton. “Tyler has a desire to compete and to get better every single day, constantly asking our coaches what he has to do to get better. Has a never give up attitude. He will be a great success in life if he approaches everything the way he approached this season.”

#11 Jake Holtrop “A captain and one of the vocal leaders on our team, Jake is dependable and reliable. Every day when he comes to practice you know exactly what you are going to get. Has a never ending positive attitude. A kid who is always willing to lay it on the line for Cedar Springs basketball.l”

#21 Kyle Chaney. “He has grown to love the game and love to compete. Kyle is a captain on our team this year and has spent countless hours around Cedar Springs basketball during his life. I will remember the hard work he has put in during his time in our program, and his ability to get along with players throughout our program and on this team.”

#54 Andrew Klompstra, “Drew decided to come out for basketball his senior year and our staff will tell you how excited we are that he did. He gave us a big physical post presence in the middle that we really needed. I will remember his personality and sense of humor, and how good he was playing and how much he was improving before that injury at Sparta. He is a kid who our entire staff really enjoyed getting to know this year.”

For the Senior night game, the Red Hawks started 5 Seniors (all except the injured Klompstra). Tyler Baker got the Red Hawks going with a lay up on a pass from Alec Hanmer for a 2-0 Cedar lead. After a couple of Unity baskets, Jake Holtrop tied the game at 4 with a driving lay up. Two Hank Porter field goals kept Cedar close and Unity had a 12-8 lead after one quarter. In a low scoring 2nd quarter, Cedar got 2 buckets by Ryan Dines and one from Trey Reed and the score was 21-15 in favor of the Crusaders at the half.

Hank Porter came out red hot in the 3rd quarter hitting 4 consecutive 3 pointers to give the Red Hawks a 27-26 lead with a minute to go in the quarter. Unity came back to take a 29-28 lead heading in to the 4th. Two Derek Ash lay ups kept Cedar within 3 points with 4 minutes left. After a Crusader basket, Cedar failed to score and Unity went in to the delay game. The Crusaders sank six straight free throws down the stretch and defeated the Red Hawks 43-32.

Porter led Cedar Springs with a game high 16 points. Derek Ash and Ryan Dines had 4 each. Jake Holtrop, Tyler Baker, Alec Hanmer and Trey Reed had two points each, while Jason Gingrich led Cedar with 5 assists.

Cedar Springs ends the regular season with an 8-12 record. Their 6-6 OK Blue Conference record was good for a third place finish in the league.

The JV Boys basketball team finished their season with a 10-10 record by defeating a tough Unity Christian squad on Thursday, March 3. The Hawks made 17 of 20 free throws to ice the victory, 51-49.

Coach Scott Taylor pointed out the team lost 5 games, over the course of the season, by less than 5 points each. Their OK-Blue conference record was 5-7.

Freshman Cameron Link was the high scorer for the season, including a 30 point effort at Coopersville. Sophomores Robert Klein, Trevor Hill, Jake Benton and freshman Austin Hilyer were typical starters and provided a balanced scoring attack. The team’s defense was also very strong.

Dakota Bekins was another freshman who provided key minutes off the bench. The rest of the team provided strong support when needed.

According to Coach Taylor, “The key to the success of our season boils down to how well the players got along on and off the court. Also, the continued daily improvement in practice.” Coach Taylor was assisted this year by Kevin Dines.

Beside the victory against Unity Christian, the season was also highlighted by a buzzer-winning game against Kenowa Hills. Austin Hilyer threw a long inbound pass and hit Cameron Link in stride as he dove to lay in the winning basket when time expired.

Coach Taylor added, “I am going to miss coaching this group. It has been truly my pleasure to coach them and be around them everyday. They are a really fun group.